Looking for some advice on tower lights

[tmcdermott]

I have an 07 22ve and would like to put lights on the tower. Anyone out there have any ideas on which ones to buy??

[CP3]

I like the skylon mini light bar. you can get it from wakeside.com last time I checked

[tmcdermott]

Just wondering how much light they give off..I wondered if u could wake board behind the boat at night with them on the tower??

[wakeboarder247]

First off, if you're thinking about dbot5 lights at all do a search on here for them before you make your purchase. I know some people have been having problems with them catching fire up on the tower! :eek:

And second, congrats on the new 22Ve and welcome to the site! You have any pics of your boat? We live off of pictures here on this site! :D

[CP3]

Its hard to wakeboard with just tower lights because you are so far back. You really need a spot light also...I have thought about doing the samething but if I get tower lights I think all Ill be doing is wakesurfing bc it is close enough to see them easily

[da.bell]

We live off of pictures here on this site! :D

Why yes we do!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

[whitlock87]

Congrats on the new boat.

However, you will not be able to use your tower light on any public lake in Ca or AZ.
(It will get you a nice ticket fast)

In addition, if you have any light facing forward, they will reflect off of the bow area and make it harder for you to see.
Bottom line, they are mostly for looks.
:02:

[ragboy]

I had the dbot5 lights, and I wasn't too happy with them, although I loved the dbot5 surf racks.

I had an incident at the delta this weekend, low bridge, high tide, and well, I just ordered new lights. My second choice was the skylon light bar, it should be here tomorrow. So if you wait a few days, I can give you my first hand impressions of both, and the light they give out.

[da.bell]

Ragboy has the dbot 5 lights.... He hasn't been on for awhile and hasn't commented on them... :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Ops, speak of the devil... he he he

[da.bell]

I had the dbot5 lights, and I wasn't too happy with them, although I loved the dbot5 surf racks.

I had an incident at the delta this weekend, low bridge, high tide, and well, I just ordered new lights. My second choice was the skylon light bar, it should be here tomorrow. So if you wait a few days, I can give you my first hand impressions of both, and the light they give out.

There are some low bridges down on the delta. Sorry to hear about that ragboy....

[tmcdermott]

So why would they ticket u for running lights on your boat??? Where can I look that up at??? Most of the time the Sheriff is off the lakes out here at about 6:30pm..Well I will look into the law to make sure I don't get a big fine

[dogbert]

You won't get a ticket for having the lights on, you will get a ticket for boarding after dark with your lights on.

[wakeboarder247]

If I'm not mistaken.. CA law is 5mph w/ your Nav lights on at dusk. I don't think you can have any other lights on besides the red/green bow lights and the white up on the tower.

[Razzman]

I believe it's 15mph at dusk and i use my tower lights all the time at dusk if nothing more than it's easier to be seen. It's also a lot easier to find your buoy if you come in late. In fact i was towing the grandkids around at dusk @ 15mph at Hogan last weekend and was passed by the sheriff and he didn't even look at me twice.

[ragboy]

Ragboy has the dbot 5 lights.... He hasn't been on for awhile and hasn't commented on them... :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Ops, speak of the devil... he he he

The DBOT5 lights look fantastic, no question. But they come with like colored lenses, and they look kinda stupid on, and it diffuses the light. I took the lenses off, and they are much brighter, but need some type of lense. Also, they seem to overheat as others have mentioned. So my second choice when I got the lights was the skylon, or titan lights, I just ordered the skylon lights, since they seem more functional, and they have a special mount, that I think will get around all I need. I will let you know.

[ragboy]

Lights are good for others to see you, and for docking. They are useless out on the lake, where you need your night vision, and need to turn everything off that you can.

[Kimmer322]

I have the Dbot5 lights as well - I just changed the halogens to get rid of the pink color and they are sweet now. Also I heard people were having trouble with them catching fire so I took out the lights and added more electrical tape to the wires and all if fine now.

[ragboy]

I just got the skylon lights in from wakeside. They will be installed tomorrow morning. They are not quite as sexy as the dbot5 lights IMHO, but they look much better than I thought they would. They will be installed tomorrow, and I will take some pictures. Looks like they will be MUCH more functional.

[anhaney]

Here is some tower lights. Let me know if you like them I can advise on how to get them. The prices shown here are higher than you can get them for. Adobe PDF page 46 Catalog page 920. For example on pricing the most expensive one is a part number 73-3555 $718.99. This place can get it for $600.00. Let me know if your interested and I will tell you how to get them here is the link.

http://www.dmpmarine.com/proofs/2007watersports.pdf :D :D

[ragboy]

The place that installs my stuff, is a lightning dealer, so it was the first I looked at. My tower uses 3inch tube and they had clamps only up to 2.5.

[da.bell]

The place that installs my stuff, is a lightning dealer, so it was the first I looked at. My tower uses 3inch tube and they had clamps only up to 2.5.

I thought you had the E tower???? If so, it's only a 2.5 inch diameter tower... Am I wrong?????

[dogbert]

You are correct about the E-tower diameter, not sure about his tower, tho.

[da.bell]

Here is ragboys rig...

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showpost.php?p=80559&postcount=251

That's the E Tower....

[ragboy]

I thought you had the E tower???? If so, it's only a 2.5 inch diameter tower... Am I wrong?????

No, my E Tower is 3 inches. Go to wakedesigns.com, it even says on the site, 3" tubing, and industry first.

[da.bell]

No, my E Tower is 3 inches. Go to wakedesigns.com, it even says on the site, 3" tubing, and industry first.

I don't doubt you... I am sure you are telling us the truth. I am shocked that Tige went to a 3 inch tube for the 2007 E Tower....

[ragboy]

I like it, it gives it some beef. Makes the boat look like a monster on the trailer.

[da.bell]

I thought you had the E tower???? If so, it's only a 2.5 inch diameter tower... Am I wrong?????

Or now I am thinking 2.25....

Okay, now I have to break out the old handheld calculator.... circumference / pi = diameter....

[ragboy]

OK, I am heading out to the lake, but I got the Skylon lights installed this morning. So far, hands down, IMHO, these are the better lights. I didn't think they would look that good, but they really do, and much more functional. They are def. brighter. We had the lights off in the bay to aim them, as we did with the dbot5 lights. Much brighter and better spread.

The only issue, was that the front lights aimed right behind the front tower tube. So we shaved the brackets for the front lights, and flipped them over which raised the front lights about 2.5 inches which made all the difference in the world.

Anyway, I will let you know how they do tonight on the lake.

Back
http://www.bighead.net/pics/2007-08-10_SkylonLights/pictures/picture-4.jpg

Front
http://www.bighead.net/pics/2007-08-10_SkylonLights/pictures/picture-11.jpg

Nice View
http://www.bighead.net/pics/2007-08-10_SkylonLights/pictures/picture-2.jpg

Click Here (http://www.bighead.net/pics/2007-08-10_SkylonLights/) for all the images.

[ragboy]

oh, by the way, these are the 2.5 inch clamps, and you can see the good size gap in the bracket cuz of my 3 inch tube.

[CP3]

what did the dbot5 look like?

[CP3]

oh, by the way, these are the 2.5 inch clamps, and you can see the good size gap in the bracket cuz of my 3 inch tube.

did you have to get longer screws?

[ragboy]

Click Here (http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showpost.php?p=71373&postcount=21) for images, and then look at the whole thread.

[ragboy]

did you have to get longer screws?

No, the ones that came were long enough.

[dogbert]

What size wire did you have to run for that?

[ragboy]

What size wire did you have to run for that?

I think it is 14g. It is bigger than the 16g speaker wire, could be 12 but pretty sure it is 14.

Well, the jury is in on the lights for me. The skylon lights are much better, brighter, and much stouter looking. They put out about 50% more light than the dbot5s.